I always hear a few fishing stories when this passage (Luke 5:1-11) comes around.
It's like the one about a man who had spent a fruitless day fishing. In desperation he picked out three fat ones at the local fish market. "Before you wrap them," he said to the clerk, "toss them to me, one by one. That way I'll be able to tell my wife I caught them and I'll be speaking the truth."
That would be me. I’m not a very good fisherman. It all started when I was young, I tried fishing in a puddle. Some older boys were laughing as they told me there were no fish there. I was about 6. One time more recently, we took the kids to Malabar farm, bought licenses for three adults and tried to catch something. Nada, not even seaweed. Or lakeweed. Lydia, who was 5 at the time, caught the only fish, a bluegill. It was a pretty entertaining.
I have tried fishing many times in my life but usually I am not very successful. Once when I was a teenager, I was with the family in Michigan, fishing from a canoe on a beautiful lake but could not catch a thing. I was frustrated until I saw someone with a string of fish and asked him what his secret was. He said try the streams around the lake, the fish are hungrier. So I walked through the brambles and weeds up a stream to a big pool and I saw flashes of fish scales as I looked down. I had spooked them. They would never come out. So I walked upstream some more and this time when I came to a pool I stayed hidden. I snuck up and without looking cast my line over the edge into the middle of the pool. I caught a turtle. I walked a bit more and did the same thing, snuck up on a pool. And the largest fish of the pool bit my hook and I pulled him out. He was about 14 inches long. A keeper. That was the best tasting fish I have ever had.
We learn to fish as we go. Try this bait, try that one. Try this spot, try that one. And it seems that for fishing, we need to make sure we bring all of our gear. So it is best to make a check list: bait, pole, reel, lures, pliers, flashlight, bobbers, sinkers, life jacket if we are going to be in a boat, knife for cutting bait in half. When I go camping I always have a check list, and I make lists for other things too, and then check things off as you go so you don’t forget anything. Like sunscreen and bug repellant for the fishing trip. See I forgot a hat, too. And water to drink.
Another thing we learn from fishing: it teaches us patience, tolerance and acceptance. Because no matter how prepared you think you are, there are always going to be changes, adjustments, revelations about better locations, techniques, etc. so, we need to learn patience, tolerance and acceptance in order to prepare for the people, places, things and activities that are beyond our control. Patience, because we sometimes have to go a long time with fish, not even a bite on the hook; tolerance because we have to get our hands dirty with worms, scales, scary fish hooks. And acceptance because sometimes we just have to accept that there is nothing else to do; no luck, period; waste of time; end of story.
Same with ministry I guess. We spend a lot of time planting seeds, hoping for the future. Sowing seeds with no immediate results. What is the checklist for ministry? Patience, tolerance and acceptance . . . Patience because it takes awhile before we get an understanding of what is really happening; what we are really trying to do. Tolerance because we usually get stuck with a wonderful mixture of crazy people who join us and we have to figure out how we fit into that group. And acceptance because we have to accept the fact that we are not in charge, God is, and we are working with God’s people.
This is true for our new council at St. Paul’s this year and actually, every year. Patience, tolerance and acceptance will get your through. And it is true for me too. Every day we are confronted by the realities of our culture and our world. People in denial about their own issues, people who are just plain angry and want to vent on you, people who cannot see the part they play in the crisis and keep up the dirty little manipulating games. And we have to suffer through until they see the real effects of their own behavior.
I have a different understanding of St. Paul’s than I did when I first arrived here in Cleveland 6.6 years ago. The vision changes and adapts with new members, and new people taking leadership roles. We have a new council and together we will create a new vision, and things will change as new leaders join and new members come in; we will all have to learn again: patience, tolerance and acceptance. This is similar to the invitation to join Jesus on his journey that Jesus extends to the fishermen, and they drop everything and follow.
The invitation to follow is there for us as well. Let go and be willing to be transformed—by love and grace. Would that we all responded to God's call with such enthusiasm—and would that we had the faith to hear the call with such clarity. Simon, for his part, had his doubts. He'd seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law and, presumably, others as well. He'd witnessed Jesus' power firsthand. And yet, when Jesus told him to once again put out his nets, he had the all-too-human response: We've given it our best, and nothing has come of it. Always the practical one. But for Simon, soon to be the Rock, practicality doesn't have the final word. It didn't make much sense to him, but Jesus commanded it, so he did it. That's pretty much the definition of faithful discipleship, right there.
In this case, Simon's faithfulness was directly and immediately rewarded, as he hauled in a large catch. The miracle of the overflowing catch. Unimaginable by most logical human beings.
He just as immediately dropped to his knees, humbled not only by Jesus' power but by his own inadequacy to be in the Lord's presence—"Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Simon isn't saved by his perfection, but by his faithfulness. And Jesus rewards it by sending him after bigger game.
So what do we learn from this? Faithful discipleship comes from without, not from within; it is not something we discover on our own, but it comes from divine revelation. Such faith created the disciples, the disciples did not create the faith— an important distinction. “what do I mean by this?” you ask.
The psalmist gives us a hint of what that kind of discipleship entails: "Though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away"—God's preferential option for the poor, in a nutshell. With that faith, when we hear God's invitation, "Whom shall I send?" we will join with Paul, with Simon Peter, and with Isaiah as we respond, "Here I am, send me!"
The faith that we have been given by God creates us. Faithful discipleship comes from God. It is not something we can do on our own. Faithfulness is a divine intervention in our lives. We hear the invitation, are we ready to leave everything and follow? No. we are never ready. What would it take? Short of an 7.0 earthquake . . . it would take an intervention of greater faith. I believe that is what it takes to drop everything and follow Jesus into the calling God has prepared for us.
Discipleship is not a question of our own doing; it is a matter of making room for God so that God can live in us. Why are there so many people today who cannot find faith? Heinrich Arnold from the Bruderhof community suggests several reasons.
Some are satisfied with what is happening; they are proud to be rugged individuals, to make it on their own, and feel that anything that comes their way, they can handle. They trust in their own courage, strength, resourcefulness and resilience. They don’t need community and other people telling them what to do; they have lost sight of God.
Others despair. They are compassionate; they recognize the suffering of the masses, the injustice of the rich and powerful, the manipulation of mammon, and they suffer with those who are oppressed. They see the creation and its slide towards destruction, but they do not see the Creator’s hand in things, they fail to see hope for tomorrow that God’s kingdom offers. They, too, have lost sight of God.
Still others see the sin, guilt, and weakness of men and women, but they have no heart, no patience with the oppressed, and they do not suffer with them. Because they have lost sight of God, they do not hear the cry of all creation. They may use God language, but they are filled with judgment, negativity, vengeance and dark words. They have not accepted the real faith of God, or they have built their faith only for their own souls and not for suffering humanity.
We can find faith only if we first find God. When we have found God, we will begin to see the need of humanity from God’s viewpoint, and we will believe that only God can overcome this need. Men and women must recognize that God loves the world even in our time. In the night of judgment that is passing over our so-called civilization, humans need to hear that God still loves them and loves creation. The message of faith is a message of love. Discipleship is not a question of our own doing; it is a matter of making room for God so that God can live in us.
So what is at the heart of the problem? I see two things. First: they don’t believe the miracles that are right before their eyes. The two boats are filled with fish but they find other justifications for this strange activity. There must be some reasonable explanation, even if they cannot see it, and will downplay the miracle without getting too emotional. Also, and simultaneously, there is what Bill Bouknight, calls “The Impala Problem.” One of the few creatures on earth that can out-jump Lebron James is the African deer called the Impala, with a supercharged spring. It has a vertical leap of over 10 feet and can broadjump over 30 feet. You would think that the zoos of the world would find it impossible to keep such an animal enclosed. Not so! It's rather easy because the experts discovered something about the Impala. It will not jump unless it can see where it is going to land. Therefore, a solid wall even 6 feet tall is a sufficient enclosure. Lots of people have the Impala problem. They won't take a leap of faith unless and until they have all the answers in advance about where they are going to land. Forget about the idea of “lets start this thing and see where God is going to take us” as Jesus led the disciples in the early days.
God is looking for some bold believers who, even in the face of the unknown, will leap when the Spirit says leap, will fly when the Spirit says fly, will launch when the Spirit says launch, all to the glory of the Lord. And it helps if people would practice patience, tolerance and acceptance.
Patience – when it seems that the world is filled with angry, thoughtless people and we are stuck in the middle of some argument. Waiting to hear what our neighbors are really trying to say. And then walking with them on their journey.
Tolerance – letting others fumble through. And when it seems that we are the only ones with a certain idea or way of doing things and we have to let others try their way first, maybe even falling upon a better way, your way, by mistake. And allowing them to think it was their idea.
Acceptance – we accept the things we have no power or control over. Accept God’s call on our lives. Other peoples’ behavior and thinking is not something we can manipulate or even affect.
Lets make a checklist every day before we start off. Top of the list is patience, tolerance and acceptance. These three, they come to us through our prayer life, through practice, and faithfully following Jesus in the ministry his has called us to.
